Chapter 37: Great Sorrow at the Tian Residence, Constable Puzzled by the Mountain Patroller?

When Chu Feng appeared dragging the carcasses of three wolves, all the villagers were stunned.

Wild wolves had been running rampant on Yulong Mountain for a long time. They had even threatened the village head, Du Dahai, who had once narrowly escaped being bitten. During the winter wheat planting season, the pack had descended from the mountain, intending to prey on the people. If the villagers hadn't been working together, the pack might have succeeded in their attack.

No one had expected that Chu Feng would single-handedly slaughter three wolves. Although he hadn't killed them with his own hands, he saw no need to explain. Everyone simply assumed it was his doing.

Only Du Dahai felt a hidden sense of unease. Last night, although the Second Peak was quite far from the village, the roars of beasts and the sounds of matchlocks had faintly carried through the air. Du Dahai had been worried about Chu Feng all along. After Chu Feng had followed the yamen runners up the mountain, he hadn't returned all night. When he finally returned this morning, he had immediately gone to town to bring ten runners back up the mountain, and he had been covered in blood. This made it impossible for Du Dahai not to worry. For commoners like them, getting entangled with the authorities rarely ended well.

"Are you alright?" Du Dahai asked as he approached Chu Feng.

"Don't worry, Village Head, I'm fine."

Chu Feng then began to butcher the wolf meat. Following the established custom, the other villagers bought it with silver or traded for it with grain. Chu Feng offered a favorable price, but not so low as to fall far below market value. It allowed the villagers to benefit without making them feel entitled. After all, human nature could not withstand scrutiny, and Chu Feng was no saint.

Not long after, the ten yamen runners descended the mountain, escorting Tian Xin. She had regained consciousness, trembling all over. Because of the strict boundaries between men and women, none of the runners dared to touch her. The journey must have been arduous. They carried the body of Tian Zhuang, and every one of them wore a mournful expression. Tian Zhuang had died a horrific death; his body was covered in bite marks from beasts, and his head had been severed. No one knew what he had truly experienced. Only Chu Feng knew, but he watched the group silently from the sidelines.

The yamen did not question Chu Feng and left the village without a word. Only Tian Xin turned her head to glance at him. This was the first time Chu Feng had seen the face of the young lady of the Tian family. She was some distance away and looked a bit blurry, but she appeared quite beautiful. However, that had nothing to do with him.

He had sold most of the wolf meat, keeping only a small portion. He planned to take it home for his wife and daughter to taste. Whether in this life or the last, he had never tried wolf meat. There was no need to mention his previous life, where even wild boar was out of reach. In this life, wolves were considered fierce beasts that lived in packs; no one would be foolish enough to hunt them. Even Chu Feng wouldn't have done it—if not for that brown bear, he wouldn't have had this treat.

He wondered how the snow leopard was doing. This was the second time the snow leopard had saved him on Yulong Mountain. Otherwise, another soul would surely have perished in the bear's jaws.

Upon returning home, Huahua and Benben ran out to greet him. Seeming to feel that its status was being challenged, Benben barked at Huahua. Huahua, naturally unwilling to back down, stepped forward as if to start a fight. But Benben had grown to over half a meter in height. Especially lately, with the family eating well, Benben had never gone hungry, and its growth had been explosive. As it matured, Chu Feng finally identified its breed. The fur on its neck was growing thick, like a small lion, with upright ears, a broad forehead, a straight nose bridge, and almond-shaped eyes. This was the legendary "lion dog," the Chow Chow, also known as the Tang dog, an indigenous breed. It was a classic large hunting dog, perfect for the chase. It wasn't ready yet, but once it grew a little more, he could take it up the mountain.

Ever since Chu Feng returned from the mountain, Zhou Xiaoxiao had been helping process the wolf carcasses. She didn't rest even after arriving home. The most valuable parts of the wolves weren't the meat, but their hides. Three wolf skins could easily fetch one or two taels of silver in town. It was a pity they weren't in perfect condition—riddled with knife cuts, bullet holes, and bear bites. Getting a high price would be difficult, but selling them would be no problem at all.

"Do you still have to go up the mountain?" Zhou Xiaoxiao asked.

"Probably not," Chu Feng replied. "The New Year is coming soon. If I go, it will only be to the outer fringes to catch some small game. We have enough large prey for the house."

After this incident, Chu Feng realized that the position given by the government wasn't as simple as it seemed. Being a mountain patroller seemed like an easy job, but when the authorities needed something done, he couldn't refuse. Yet, he couldn't afford to lose this status either. The situation across the Great Qian Dynasty was grim, and stable opportunities for survival were vanishing. Relying on the mountain at least allowed him to hunt and provide for his wife and daughter. With that in mind, he extinguished the thought of abandoning the position.

The runners soon returned to town with the young Miss Tian. Master Tian watched his granddaughter with tear-filled eyes, finally exhaling with relief when he confirmed she was unharmed. But when he learned that Tian Zhuang was dead and that his remains were in such a wretched state, Master Tian stopped crying. He seemed to lose his soul, murmuring, "The Tian family's only heir... gone..."

Master Tian's son had died in battle as a young man, leaving behind a son and a daughter for the old man to raise. He had cared for them deeply, pinning all his hopes for the family’s legacy on them. He had never imagined that despite his careful protection, his grandson would still perish on the mountain.

Tian Xin clung to Master Tian’s arm, equally heartbroken.

"Why wasn't it you who died?" Master Tian stared at Tian Xin with vacant eyes.

Tian Xin was stunned.

"If your brother hadn't tried to save you, he wouldn't have died. Why wasn't it you? If you had died, your brother would still be alive."

Tian Xin remained silent. She wiped her tears, staring blankly at her brother's corpse.

Soon, the entire yamen of Xueling Town was mobilized. Constable Liu Xi took on the case. Master Tian had demanded a thorough investigation into the cause of Tian Zhuang's death. If a person had killed him, bring the culprit to justice; if a beast had killed him, hunt the beast down—dead or alive.

Liu Xi accepted the order, but as the investigation began, he felt it was becoming tricky. They first investigated the bandits who had captured Tian Xin and discovered that they were not small-time criminals—they were members of the Lotus Gang. The leader, Zhao Youtian, was one of the gang's deputy leaders. Although the entire group had died on the mountain, the Lotus Gang still held sway in town. Arresting them would be no simple task. Liu Xi decided to first clarify exactly what had happened that day.

"Captain, the case is already so clear. What else is there to investigate?" a constable from the patrol station couldn't help but complain. The facts of Tian Zhuang’s case were straightforward: a deputy leader of the Lotus Gang had intended to extort money and kidnapped the girl. The hot-headed Tian Zhuang had charged up the mountain with a mountain patroller and ended up killed in retaliation. The facts were clear, the logic sound. They didn't understand what Master Tian was still clinging to.

Only Liu Xi, staring at the petition in front of him, began to ponder.

"What was Tian Zhuang's martial prowess like?"

"Martial prowess? He was a candidate for the military examinations; his skills were naturally exceptional. In a one-on-one fight in this whole town, no one could have been his match."

"I see. Then why did he die on the Second Peak?" Liu Xi asked again.

"Because the other side had over a dozen people and wild beasts. No matter how strong Tian Zhuang was, he couldn't have stood against them," someone replied.

"Then why... did this mountain patroller not die?"

Liu Xi tapped his knuckles repeatedly against the words "mountain patroller" on the petition.

The constables in the patrol station fell silent in an instant.